5IVE // Pooter ✔️

.27

Zaire 🎂

Three Days Later; around 6 in the Morning...

"Five, wake up...", I hear a familiar voice tell me, followed by a hand on my back.

I groan and turn over, only to be shaken vigorously.

Opening my eyes, I'm met with my cheesing brother.

"Happy birthday, baby sis.", he says, still smiling.

I sit up in my bed and pull him into a hug.

"Thank you, Zaide.", I reply.

He hugs me back and I feel tears poke at my eyes.

"I miss you so much, bro.", I mumble into his chest, holding my tears in.

He laughs softly and pulls away. "I miss you more, Five."

"Matter of fact, I miss you the most.", he adds and I playfully roll my eyes.

"And I miss you the mostest.", I retort and he laughs again.

"Anywho..", Zaide mumbles, sitting on my bed.

I scoot into his side and lean my head on his shoulder.

A small silence falls over us as I sit in his arms, enjoying my brother's company.

However, Zaide eventually breaks it.

"I came to warn you, Five.", he says in a serious tone, making me look at him funny.

Staring into my eyes, he tells me, "You need to watch Oni. Remember that even though blood is thicker than water, it's still slippery."

"So Oni is plotting on me?", I question and he gives me a thumbs up. "Exactly."

I silently nod, lowkey scared.

Zaide senses my fear and smiles at me. "Don't be scared. You've held your own so far, and if that isn't enough, always know I got you through it all."

"Plus, don't forget about the rest of the family.", he adds, emphasizing "family."

Confused, I reply, "You lost me there."

"You'll understand when the time comes.", he responds and checks his watch.

Zaide let's out a sigh and says, "It's almost time for me to go."

"I understand. I love you.", I reply and hug him again. "I love you more, Zaire."

Pulling away, he places a soft kiss on my forehead.

"One more thing, tell Deion that I'm sorry. He's a solid nigga, and you should hold onto him."

My eyes widen, but before I can respond, he's gone.

Sighing, I close my eyes back.

Opening them back, I wake myself up.

"Deion.", I call out and grab my phone from the nightstand.

"The birthday girl dun woke up. Happy birthday, baby.", he says, smiling down at his phone. "Thank you, daddy."

I tell him, "I woke up to tell you about my dream."

"What happened?", he asks and gives me his undivided attention.

"Okay, so my brother visited me and he told me to be watching Oni because she's plotting on m-"

Cutting me off, he says, "She got me fucked up."

"Chile, it's whatever at this point. I thought we buried the hatchet, but it's obvious we haven't.", I reply with a dry shrug.

I add, "Anyways, he brought someone else up too."

"Who?", De asks with a raised eyebrow. "You."

His eyes widen and I crack a smile.

"Yeah, bae. He told me to tell you that he's sorry.", I continue.

He mumbles a small, "Wow."

Before I could respond, my door opens.

"Happy birthday, niecey-pooh!", my aunt exclaims, poking her head in.

"Thanks, auntie.", I respond with a wide smile.

Deion says, "I'ma talk to you later. Love you.", and hangs up.

I stare at my phone with a confused look but shrug it off.

"This is for you from your uncle and me.", my auntie tells me, gaining my attention again.

She hands me an envelope and I waste no time ripping it open.

There was a birthday card and a small piece of paper.

Taking the card out, I quickly read it.

"To my beautiful niece," I begin, trying to ignore the $100 bill staring at me. "You've grown... happy birthday... love you."

"Thank y'all so much.", I tell her, getting up to hug her.

She hugs me back and kisses my cheek. "You're so welcome, but there's more."

"Your dad told me to keep you until I knew you were back to your normal self, and I can honestly say that you're even better now. My work here is done.", she explains.

"So, if you look in the envelope you'll see an airplane ticket. I'm not forcing you to go, so that's only if you wanna move back after graduation."

Smiling, I pull the ticket out and stare at it.

"I appreciate it, auntie, but I'm loving it here.", I respond and she nods in understanding.

"I understand that, but I don't wanna limit your options, okay?"

"Okay."

She turns around and walks out of my room.

Picking my phone back up, I try and call Deion back.

However...

My call doesn't even go through.

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